Sarpi, Paolo

Sarpi, Paolo päˈōlō särˈpē [key], 1552–1623, Venetian councillor, theologian, and historian. In 1565 he became a Servite friar and later theologian and adviser to the republic. In the conflict that developed in 1606 between Venice and Pope Paul V he staunchly defended in his writings the right of the state to control ecclesiastic matters. In 1607 his prestige was increased when he was wounded in an attempt, said to be sponsored by the pope, to seize him by force. His most important work is his history of the Council of Trent (published in London in 1719), in which he viewed the council as the triumph of papal absolutism and centralization.

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